In the field of food packaging and handling, it has been known to use portable or disposable food containers to store and dispense soft foods and other food products or material to infants, children, medical patients, and others.
A single bag container, as conventionally known, can be pre-packaged or later filled with liquids, mashed foods, or other soft food product(s) or other food product(s) or material, for instance to permit an infant or child to access the food product through an opening, straw, spout, spoon, or other conduit. In general, such single-bag containers are made of plastic or other inert material, to attempt to enhance the sanitary nature of the storage container, and are in part designed to permit parents and other caregivers to conveniently purchase and deliver food products to infants, children, medical patients, or others in pre-packaged amounts.
However, in known food packaging constructions of these kinds, issues related to sanitation and food wastage may arise. For instance, if the child, infant, or other consumer does not consume the entire container of food, the parent or other caregiver may attempt to store the bag with the remaining food for later use, for example by placing the container in a refrigerator. Storage in a refrigerator or other location may, however, produce fungus, mold, or other spoilage of the remaining food due to oxygen exposure, exposure to moisture, fermentation, and/or other contamination, factors, or processes.
Knowing that the left over food product may not “keep,” or be able to be preserved, the parent or other caregiver may choose to throw leftover food product away, possibly wasting food product. Attempting to remove leftover food product and then washing the bag is generally time consuming and not practical, effective, or possible. The difficulty in cleaning a single-ply or similar bag for later reuse may lead to mold or fungus growing within the crevices or other areas of the bag which may be unreachable to clean or impossible to remove. Along with causing frustration, parents unaware of mold growth may expose their children to health hazards.
Thus a multi-part assembly including a disposable internal lining which can be effectively cleaned or thrown out after use may be desirable to address these problems and others, as well as require little or minimal cleaning of the outermost or external bag. Also, once left over food is removed from the disposable or internal bag or enclosure, it can be placed in separate air-tight rigid or other container for safer or longer-term storage. Additionally, left over food can be kept for future use within the disposable or internal bag by closing the opening. Furthermore, to avoid food waste, the external enclosure or cover may be insulated through an insulating material or via an air insulated cavity between both enclosures to allow food products to stay warm or cold for several hours. This would allow food items such as yogurts to stay cold, while at the same time foods such as soups can stay warm.
It may therefore again to be desirable to provide an advanced, multi-part, nested food container assembly, in which food product(s) or materials can be safely, conveniently, and sanitarily stored within a removable inner lining or internal dispensing bag or enclosure nested within a surrounding protective outer cover or enclosure, to allow the removal or food, the loading or insertion of food product, refrigeration, food loading, container cleaning and re-use, and/or other handling to enhance sanitation, protect the content of the dispensing bag, and avoid waste.